Homecoming
by libbyQuin
Summary: A short piece on Tara's thoughts as she returns to Charming. Now a two-shot: Jax was sure he just saw - but no. It couldn't be. She left town years ago.
1. Homecoming

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A/N: This is my first attempt at a Sons of Anarchy fic, so I'm a little unsure about the characterisation. So I'd really appreciate reviews, especially constructive criticism!!  
Sadly, I do not own SoA. Or Jax... :'( Do I really have to tell you that sad truth??  
'Shutterbug' is a brilliant song, and Veruca Salt are an awesome band. You should look them up. :D That song was the inspiration for this piece, which was written in like 20 minutes. This morning I had no intention of writing a SoA fic. It's now 6.17pm and I'm about to publish it. For me, that's very, very fast. :P

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Homecoming

_It's your thrill  
__It's your wonder  
__It's your will  
__It's your way home  
__You're right where you always wanted to be  
__You can't change  
__- 'Shutterbug', Veruca Salt_

Tara Knowles didn't hesitate before taking the turn-off to Charming. She had made her mind up weeks ago and once she made a decision she stuck with it, no matter what.

Familiar buildings jumped out at her as she entered her hometown. She hadn't been back for years, but it looked almost exactly the same. Some buildings were a little shabbier, some trees had been cut down – other than that, she could have left yesterday. She wondered whether the people had changed as little as the surroundings. One person in particular.

Tara unconsciously slowed down as she drove past the Teller-Morrow garage. She hadn't meant to; she'd intended to drive right past without a second thought. She was here for a job, to clean out her father's home, to get away from Josh. She was here for a lot of reasons, but _he_ was not one of them. However, the garage seemed to exert a magnetic pull on her.

It was closed, and the court out front was empty. There was no custom Harleys parked up. No doubt all the mechanics (_outlaw bikers_, Tara reminded herself) were out doing something violent and illegal. Tara sped up, a frown on her face.

Shortly she was pulling into the driveway of her father's house. She killed the engine but stayed in the car, leaning back in the seat with her eyes closed.

She had promised herself that she wouldn't let the past interfere with the present. She'd known that coming back to Charming would be hard, but it was the right decision, the best course of action. Charming was where she wanted to be. Nevertheless, doubts were starting to trickle through her mind. She sighed. If driving past his family's garage had affected her like this, what would happen when she saw him again? Charming wasn't a big place, and it was impossible to avoid someone, especially when they were as eminent as he was.

The skin on her lower back, stained with her past, started to tingle, as it always did when she thought of him. Tara knew that, despite all her self-denial, she was still in love. The only people who had crow tattoos like hers were the old ladies of SAMCRO. She'd never gotten hers covered up or lasered off. She'd tried to make excuses for leaving it there, telling herself that it was a reminder of old mistakes. But that just wasn't true.

For as long as that crow perched on her back, she would love Jax Teller. After all, she was his old lady. Always had been, always would be.

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**A/N: Please review!!**


	2. Epilogue

**A/N: This should not exist. I intended this as a one-shot! But a couple of people added it to their alert list. So I thought, 'Meh. If I come up with something to come next, I'll post it'. I wrote this in like 20 minutes. I dunno how good it is, in particular the characterisation. Jax is kinda hard to write. Drop me a review and tell me what you thought - please?  
Oh by the way - my other SoA fic, 'Like Father, Like Son' is now up and I'd really appreciate some feedback on it. So go check it out. Go ooooon! Help me out. :D**

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**Epilogue**

_Thought I ran into you down on the street  
__Then it turned out to only be a dream  
__I made a point to burn all of the photographs  
__She went away and then I took a different path  
__The regrets are useless in my mind  
__She's in my head, I must confess  
_- 'Whatsername', Green Day

Jax Teller glanced back over his shoulder in shock. He could have sworn he'd just seen –

But no. The Saturday morning foot traffic of Charming was made up of a large variety of people, but _she_ certainly wasn't one of them. Never would be. She'd made her choice years ago. Jax clearly remembered how stubborn she was. Never once had she ever changed her mind.

Jax returned his eyes to the road, knowing full well that looking behind him at the people on the footpath was dangerous as well as pointless. He revved his Harley and sped up, suddenly struck with the odd desire for a bit of privacy.

When he reached the garage, he grabbed a beer and a packet of cigarettes and made his way up to the roof. Settling himself down on the old tiles, his mind wandered to what he'd just seen – or rather, thought he'd seen. Thinking about it now, he realised that he probably wouldn't recognise her even if he did ride past her. It had been eleven years since she'd left, and people didn't look the same forever. He hoped she hadn't changed too much, though. She had been so pretty.

Not that he'd ever see her again anyway.

Jax briefly considered indulging his sudden bout of nostalgia by going over to the house and digging out some old photos of him and her together as teenagers. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with Wendy, though, and besides, he was pretty sure he'd gotten rid of all those pictures. Burnt, no doubt, in a heart-broken nineteen-year-old's fit of rage. This realisation, much to his annoyance, caused more than a twinge of disappointment in his mind.

Jax sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. Missing someone he hadn't seen in over a decade was so pointless. There were so many things he should have been thinking about, but for some reason, the only thing in his head was her. He'd been brought up to have no regrets, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for losing her.

Jax threw his burnt-out cigarette butt at Juice down in the court in anger, thankfully missing. Why the hell could he suddenly not stop thinking about a girl he'd dated for a few years back in high school? If he was going to be preoccupied with any ex, it should have been Wendy. But it wasn't her face that kept appearing in his mind.

He rubbed his right wrist absent-mindedly; a red patch of skin that still tingled occasionally. It was the sight of the only tattoo he'd ever had lasered. It had been one of his very first tattoos – her name on his wrist in curly black letters. It had been done on the same day that she'd had the SAMCRO old lady crow inked on her back. They'd promised each other that it meant forever, like the SAMCRO version of wedding vowels. Jax had inked his heart on his sleeve, literally. Then he'd gotten rid of it, just as he'd gotten rid of all the photos.

Jax knew that she would have lasered her crow as soon as she had the cash to do so. She wasn't his old lady, after all, and SAMCRO had no place in her new life as a respected doctor or whatever it was that she did now.

Jax made his way down from the roof, intending to loose himself under the hood of another almost-dead car. There was no point in thinking about Tara Knowles. Because, after all, he was never going to see her again. That was just the way it was.


End file.
